The Beauty of a Caged Bird
by umeboshi-girl
Summary: The Hyuuga and the Uchiha clans have decided to secure their alliance with a marriage. PreKonoha timeline involving Uchiha Madara. This is pretty much Sasuhina with different names and a more traditional setting.


TITLE: The Beauty of a Caged Bird

RATING: PG-13

DISCLAIMER: Naruto and it's characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Any names you don't recognize from the anime or manga are characters that belong to me.

A/N: This pairing for this storty is Uchiha Madara/Hyuuga Hitomi. Yep, you read that right. There isn't an option for Madara though, so I fudged it. This is pretty much Sasuhina with different names and a more traditional setting anyway. :3

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The snow fell in soft whirls, fluttering down to rest carelessly on her pale skin and dark eyelashes. Hyuuga Hitomi blinked the snowflakes away and turned to cast her pale eyes at the shadowy figure that had followed her out onto the porch.

Light from the lamps spilled out of the gap between the open shoji screens along with her father's drunken laughter. Her family was celebrating her recent engagement with uncharacteristic merriment. Unable to bear their good cheer for even a moment longer, she had escaped outside to collect her thoughts as she wistfully stared up at the night sky. Was her family so glad to be rid of her? She was being foolishly sentimental. Of course they were.

Sometimes, her eyes saw things too clearly. Including the man behind her.

"Good evening, Madara-sama." Hitomi bowed deeply, for once thankful for her grandmother's painful lessons on grace and etiquette. Surely she would have made a fool of herself otherwise.

He did not bother to return her polite greeting.

Uchiha Madara merely inclined his head slightly in a gesture of unparalleled arrogance, his dark eyes boring into her. His armor, expensive and undoubtedly heavy, was worn from months of battle. She could hardly believe that the hero of the Great Shinobi War had traveled so far to see her. How often had her oldest sister scorned her as nothing more than a mouse? Under his gaze she felt every inch a tiny white mouse hypnotized by the stare of a snake that regarded her as prey.

She could not even begin to fathom why such a powerful man would want her hand in marriage. Her family was first among the ninja clans of Fire Country, but she was not strong or beautiful like her sisters and the branch house had produced a score of girls more accomplished than she.

So the question then was...

"Why did you choose me?"

Hitomi covered her mouth as her cheeks flushed a deep rose. She was horrified that she had blurted out her thoughts so rudely. The corner of Madara's mouth twitched, a gleam of amusement surfacing in the depths of his eyes.

She was terribly thankful that he had not taken offense at her blunt question.

When the Uchiha heir turned and walked away she was wondering if perhaps she _had_ insulted him, but discarded that thought with relief when he gestured for her to follow him.

Madara moved silently beside her with a dangerous grace that made a mockery of her own small ninja skills. He easily matched his longer stride to hers, the lonely echo of her footsteps following behind them. The moonlight cast shadows across the sharp, elegant lines of his face. He was undeniably handsome. Hitomi would have even called him pretty, if it weren't for the stern set of his mouth and the cold black ice of his eyes.

Her sisters and the other girls had been falling over themselves to make him feel welcome since he had arrived in the hopes of catching his eye and perhaps his interest, but he had only regarded them with utter indifference. How had his attention been drawn to Hitomi when she had done everything she could to escape it?

She was so painfully shy. She knew she seemed plain compared to Hotaru's brash strength or Hikari's seductive elegance. When her father had informed her that Uchiha Madara had decided on a Hyuuga bride, she had never dreamed that it would be her name given when the time came.

She had fallen into the habit of ignoring him whenever he visited, as best one could ignore a living legend like him though she had caught glimpses of him on occasion. Unlike her, he was seldom alone, though by the annoyed expression on his face whenever a girl latched herself to his arm it was hardly by choice. When he wasn't surrounded by an adoring crowd of girls, he was with the Hyuuga council discussing important things like politics and war.

Right now, everyone was talking about a certain pair of brothers and their idealistic dream of a hidden ninja village where all the clans could live together peacefully. It sounded lovely, but Hitomi seriously doubted anything would ever come of it. If even the main and the branch houses could not get along what hope did a village full of ninja without even the bond of blood have?

Of course, no one cared what she thought. She was the youngest and the least of Hyuuga Hikaru's three daughters. She was the failure. Hitomi was hardly suited to becoming the new matriarch of the Uchiha clan.

Again, she could not help but wonder why he had chosen her above all others.

By chance, he had led her to her favorite garden. It had belonged to her late mother and it held some of her most precious memories. Even though winter's chill had hidden the plants and flowers she so loved, there was a stark beauty to the bare branches that reached above them towards the starry night sky.

Snowflakes drifted down to catch on Madara's long mane of spiky black hair and rest against the dull red metal of his shoulder-guards. Idly, she wondered how he could endure the cold. Even her heavy silk kimono was little protection against the night wind. Hitomi found herself shivering and stepping closer to her companion's warmth. She guessed from the heat that radiated so effortlessly from him that he was a fire type.

It was probably indecent of them to be alone in a garden at night without a chaperone, but Hitomi was accustomed to getting her own way about small things like this. Sometimes being overlooked so easily had advantages.

She looked up, startled, when he pressed warm fingers against her cold cheek. Her eyes went wide with surprise, but she stilled under the soft caress. Madara's hands were calloused from holding weapons, but surprisingly gentle for all that. He could snap her neck so easily, but she found herself trusting him.

He wanted her. For whatever reason, he wanted her to bear his sons and daughters. He wanted her blood to strengthen his clan and his precious bloodline. He found her worthy.

"Why?" It was a whisper, no more than a thread of a sound, but he heard her.

"Why did I choose you?" He smirked, his eyes glittering with some emotion she was too naive to recognize. "Because you are a beautiful thing I want to possess."

A thing? She was merely a thing he wanted to possess? And he thought she was _beautiful_?

Hitomi tried to turn her face away in confusion, but his fingers lifted her chin easily. His grip was still gentle, but as inexorable as stone. His eyes burned with some unknown emotion as his breath washed hotly against her lips.

"I... I still don't understand."

"Don't worry. You will."

He lowered his face to hers and kissed her passionately. It was more battle than lovemaking and Hitomi could do nothing but surrender to him. His lips and tongue and teeth all conspired against her, to weaken her knees so that she breathlessly collapsed against his chest as his mouth worked over hers.

It made her heart race and her head swim.

He did not love her. He would probably never love her. She doubted he was even capable of the emotion. It did nothing to change the situation.

She was his.

END

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Extra Author Notes :  
  
Names:  
Hitomi is a common Japanese name for girls meaning pupil of the eye. It can also be written to indicate wisdom/intellect and beauty.  
Hikaru means light or radiance. Considering the Hyuuga naming system, it seems like it would be a likely choice for a clan leader. Hiashi, Hizashi, Hinata, and Hanabi (aside from the fact they all start with H) have meanings associated with light or sunlight.  
Hotaru means firefly.  
Hikari means light and seems to be the feminine version of Hikaru. Since she's the eldest, I thought it was appropriate.

Characterization: Uh, see above. Madara is written with the assumption that he's 1) an awful lot like Sasuke and 2) is meant to be the statue at the Valley of the End.


End file.
